


Gerudo Forest

by imacetra



Category: Legend of Zelda
Genre: gerudo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-15
Updated: 2013-06-03
Packaged: 2017-11-01 23:43:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/362601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imacetra/pseuds/imacetra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Waking in Hyrule, Melissa finds herself taken prisoner by the Evil Lord Ganondorf and the Gerudo thieves of the desert. With no clue as to why or how she has ended up in a fictional land, all she wants to do, is find a way to escape and make it home. But soon, she finds a bond forming between her and her captor, as her destiny is entangled in a battle of good and evil. This is a Ganondorf x OC romance fanfiction. Not quite finished but would love reviews.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She woke to the sound of shouting. A dull thudding sound was coming closer from somewhere in the darkness of what she thought was her bed room. She couldn't quite make sense of the noises she was hearing. She reached over to shake her fiancé, who should be laying next to her only to not find him. The bed felt much harder than usual. 

"Jimmy? Jimmy where are you?" she called softly trying not to panic. 

The room felt strangely frigid. The weather channel had predicted a hot night so why was it so cold? The air hitting her legs made her realize her covers were off. She shivered reaching for the sheets when the sound of clashing metal being struck repeatedly startled her eyes open. 

What she saw before her was not her bed room. A deep starlit sky was looking back at her from where she lay. She sat up and looked around. Jimmy was nowhere to be seen. The breeze she had thought was being created by her two air purifiers and stand up fan was actually the wind.

As the sound of shouting drifted to her ears, her groggy mind became vaguely aware that something was wrong. She knew she should be concerned, but her mind had yet to fully wake and all she could do was lay there listening. It wasn't till she heard a dull pounding, which seemed to be drawing closer, that she reached over to shake her fiancé. He should be laying next to her, but for some reason her hands could not find him. Even as her arms reached out and felt for him, she was aware that the bed felt much harder than usual. 

"Jimmy? Jimmy where are you?" she called softly not feeling him beside her. 

A frigid breeze hit her legs, making her shiver and reach for the sheets, but they were no longer there. It wasn't till the sound of clashing metal, being struck repeatedly, reached her ears, that she was startled up to look around. 

At first, all she could see was the darkness about her, but soon, a silvery light shown down upon her surroundings. What it revealed was not her bedroom at all. A deep starlit sky was looking back at her from where she sat, and the breeze she had thought was being created by her stand up fan, was actually the wind. Her bed had been replaced with a flat rock in the middle of a sea of sand, and to top her confusion off, Jimmy was nowhere to be seen. 

"Ok this just has to be a dream. I just need to give myself a good pinch." She whispered to herself, but pinching had no effect. 

Just over the huge sand dune to her left, the shouting and metal clanging just kept getting louder, and to her, it sounded as if a full on battle was being waged. Sounds of horse hooves could now be distinguished from the dull thudding, and a thought had just occurred to her. What if her fiancé was just over that ridge? Was he in the middle of the battle? She just had to risk a look. It would do her no good to just sit there. 

"Ok Melissa you just need to look over that hill. No one will even know you were there." She spoke softly, stupidly moving in the noise's direction.

After almost falling a couple of times, she eventually managed to near the edge of the dune. Lowering herself to a crouch, she peaked over the edge trying not to be seen by whomever was down there. From what she could see, two armies, that looked as if they had come right out of a fantasy movie, were facing off. The army closest to her was dressed in a heavy armor and chain mail. They looked to be composed of mostly men. The other army was so drastically different. All of them were women dressed in what looked to be a light Arabian garb, and their blood red hair flowed as they slashed ferociously at the armored men. 

Watching the scene before her, she thought the lack of armor on the female warriors would have left them at a disadvantage, but the more she studied the event below, the more she could see that the armor was actually weighing the men down. The armored warriors were sinking into the sand, making it harder for them to move, while the women were so fast and agile. For every blow the men would strike, the women were able to counter with three. 

A fairly large troop to the back of the battle, surrounded a man who must have been their leader. He sat on top of a white mare covered in a golden armor, and she wondered who he was. Was he the good guy in all this? Why were they fighting? 

She shook her head. This shouldn't matter to her. Her only concern should be Jimmy. Moving her attention back to the battle itself, she skimmed the crowd for her fiancé and was relieved not to see him mixed in there anywhere. 

Without warning, a blast of flame and ice struck the group of armored men, sending them flying, and a gleeful cackling came from above. Looking up just in time, to her astonishment, she spied two little old women flying away on brooms. They seemed thoroughly happy with the destruction they had just caused, and by some miracle, avoided being hit by the volley of arrows being sent their way. Her gaze could do nothing but follow the impossible flying brooms, and she noticed that the clouds had moved in once more. Lightning flashed from them, allowing her to see the brooms coming to a stop finally after crossing a good distance. 

Even at that distance she could see “Him” when the lightning would flash. A man on a dark armored horse, his cape whipping out behind him in the wind, flanked by more of the female warriors on horseback. The dark figure of the man pointed towards the other forces. It was all the signal his troops needed. They raced their horses forward, striking at any enemies that crossed their path in their rush towards the opposing leader. 

In all the chaos, she failed to notice the shadows that had moved silently over her, but a sudden raspy shriek above changed that, and drew her attention back to her immediate surroundings. All she could do was look up in terror, as the two old ladies hovered above her. They shouted at her, but she didn't recognize the language at all.

"Uh hi." Melissa tried. "I'm sorry but I can't understand a word your saying. You wouldn't happen to speak English would you?"

The two old crones just stared at her for a moment and then began to talk amongst themselves. They sounded as if they were bickering about something. Melissa couldn't understand them, but at least they weren't trying to kill her. One shouted at the closest group of horseback women, and by the time she realized what was going on, it was a little too late to run. She almost felt silly about doing so, but as she watched the horse galloping towards her, she panicked and made a mad dash away.

Even as she ran, she knew she wouldn't actually be able to out run a horse, and eventually, felt a sharp tug at the back of her night shirt. Her captor was definitely stronger than she looked, and lifted Melissa into the air effortlessly. Once upon the horse, Melissa dared not struggle, for fear of falling off in the middle of the battle they were riding through. She didn't even dare speak till they crested over another dune leaving the fight behind.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked panicked after riding what seemed a few good miles, but she was only met with quiet. "Could you at least tell me where I am and how I got here?" But again she was greeted with silence. “What are you going to do with m-" 

Finally the woman cut her off in the same strange language, and though she couldn't understand what was being said, something about her tone made Melissa think it was best not to ask any more questions. 

After a few more miles, they arrived at a huge stone temple. A woman, with her palms stretched out, had been carved out of the rock face. Melissa stared in awe of its beauty till, without warning, her captor threw her from the horse, causing her to land face first in the sand. 

With a thud beside her, the woman dismounted, pulling her roughly to her feet and began to drag her into the entrance. She did not dare struggle, and as they traveled through the maze-like hallways, Melissa found herself feeling that if she were left alone, she would be lost. 

Finally, they stopped and Melissa's captor flung her into the room before them. Melissa turned to protest, but the door had already slammed shut and the sound of a lock clicking could be heard. Now she was all alone to ponder just what was going on here.


	2. Chapter 2

No matter how many time she played the night's events over in her head, she couldn't figure out how she had ended up in this strange place. She had gotten home from work, made some ramen for dinner, all before popping on a scary movie just so she could cuddle with Jimmy. After that a bath. Then bed. 

She had done nothing out of the ordinary and this was just making no sense. How had she gotten here? Even if she had somehow started sleep walking, there were no deserts where she lived. How long were they going to leave her in this room? Did she dare to try and escape? She pondered all this until her head hurt. 

Out of boredom, she began to pace the floor, which eventually, left her standing in front of a medium sized mirror that hung on the wall. For some strange reason her long red hair, usually a copper auburn, looked a bit brighter in color, as well as a complete mess. She looked at it a bit closer, but shook off her weird feeling, thinking it had to be the lighting. Instead, she tried to comb out the knots with her fingers. It tangled so easily on her and would take some work to fix. Lack of sleep had caused her bluish gold ringed eyes to look haunted, and she dropped her hands to her sides, noting there were bruises marking her pale skin. This must have been where the woman had gripped her arm so tightly. She also saw her night shirt had been ripped by the pull onto the horse. 

She let out a small sigh, giving up on her appearance, and pushed her glasses up the ridge of her nose. Deciding to look around the room some more, she saw nothing in here that could really be used as a weapon. It was a plain room with a small window. There was a small cot in the corner, and an empty dresser with a water pitcher and bowl on top. The breeze coming in felt frigid, as she walked to the window, and looked down. It was definitely too high up to climb down from, and she also noted that it looked out in the direction of the battle from which she had just came. Even from here she could hear the sounds of battle and couldn't help but wonder who was winning. 

Soon, the bright flashes of lighting in the distance, lulled her already tired mind to sleep in the chair beside the window. Darkness claimed her, and she floated in a dreamless sleep till she was woken to the sounds of whispers, and the feeling of being touched. 

Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into the faces of the two little broom-riding women. Now that they were in front of her, with the light of the morning sun spilling through the window, she could study them better. They must have been twins and both were the same olive tan. Their faces looked as though the sun had turned their skin to wrinkled leather and their gray hair was pulled back and reminded her of a treasure troll. Each had a gem on their forehead. One blue. One red. They made her think of characters from a video game. If only she could just remember which one. Slowly, her attention returned to what they were doing and she realized they were pulling back her hair and touching her ears, mumbling to each other.

"Is there something on my face?" Melissa inquired recoiling back a little. 

“Be Quiet. We will be asking the questions.” the one with the blue gem spat sounding very angry. 

"You speak English!" Melissa exclaimed with relief.

" EnGliSh?" the one with the red stone responded, like she had never heard the word before. 

To her dismay, the twins started to talk in that strange language again, before adressing her once more. 

"We are Koume and Kotake. We do not know this EngLish you speak of. We are currently speaking ancient Gerudo." the one with the red jewel continued.

Koume? Kotake? Gerudo? Something about those names nagged at the back of her mind. She felt she should know them from somewhere, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

“Um... well I’m Melissa.” She introduced herself back, gaining more strange looks, as if her name was uncommon.

“Well Melissa, if that is your real name, how is it you speak the ancient language of our people? It is only used by us who use magic in the tribe now." The blue jemed one hissed.

"Magic?" Melissa repeated unsure what they were talking about.

"You seem very confused so let's start with an easy question. Where are you from?" the one with the red gem asked. 

“I am from a little city called Macon." she replied to them unsure of why this was important. 

“Macon? I have never hear of such place. Tell the truth! Your a hylian spy aren't you!" the one with the blue gem growled, causing Melissa to recoil again.

“ Hold on sister. She looks too odd to be Hylian. She maybe pale like them but look at her hair. Look at her ears. You cannot deny that she might have just a little Gerudo in her.” Said the other trying to calm the blue one down.

Hylian? Another word that she knew she had heard somewhere. Why couldn’t she remember where? 

“She even speaks our ancient language. Very fluently I might add. “The red one said giving Melissa a small smile. 

“So she's a well studied spy. Anyone can learn a language. It doesn't matter if she has our blood or not.” the blue continued to argue.

“Excuse me but what do you mean about my hair and ears? Your ears look the same as mine and I didn't think red hair was that uncommon a color. This language is pretty much what everyone speaks where I am from. Please believe me. I'm not a spy.” Melissa pleaded, trying to defend herself.

Where had she ended up? Just how far from her home had she been spirited away? Why would they think her a spy? She was unsure how to prove that she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

The red one listened to what she had to say and could see her worry and confusion. “Please don’t mind Kotake. She has just been on edge because of the battle last night. There is nothing wrong with your hair and ears.” 

So the blue one was Kotake and the red was Koume. Melissa decided she liked Koume. She seemed the more understanding of the two, even if this felt like they were playing good cop bad cop.

”Look last night I... I just don’t... I don’t know how I even got there.” Melissa just blurted out. “I went to sleep in my own bed and just woke up in the middle of a desert. Can you please tell me where I am?” 

Koume gave her a pitying look. “Well I can’t answer how you got here, but I can tell you where you are. This is the Spirit Temple of the Gerudo desert. Our tribe moved from the valley and had to make this our home, due to the advancing of our enemy’s army.”

That made Melissa stop and think. Hylian...Gerudo...Koume... Kotake... The answer that had been eluding her finally crashed down on her like a ton of bricks. The reason she kept hearing things that sounded as if they came from a video game is because she was in one. Did that mean the dark man she saw in the distance yesterday was... She shook her head. She didn’t want to think about this. This was just too bizarre. 

“Are you really believing all this rubbish?” Kotake asked throwing her hands up in disbelief. She seemed more than a little upset that Koume was explaining things, like she believed what Melissa was saying. Koume on the other hand, seemed to be ignoring her sister. It seemed there was more on her mind than she was revealing to anyone. 

“So everyone there speaks this language and your hair and ears are common.” Koume spoke to herself, deep in thought, before turning back to Melissa. “I have never heard of this city you speak of, but that doesn't mean it's not real. So tell me, now that you know where you are, is your city very far from here?”Koume questioned. 

Melissa was unsure how to tell her that it was a whole other world away. Best to leave them in the dark about it. 

“I'm not really sure. I have never seen a Gerudo Desert on any maps.” Melissa said truthfully.

“That's probably because it's some city in Hyrule.” Kotake said with great disgust. “I guess our land isn't even good enough for their maps.”

“What’s a Hyrule?” Melissa asked feigning ignorance.

“Wha?!?! You haven’t heard of Hyrule either?” Koume said with slight surprise. 

This seemed to shock them even more. The two witches eyed her for a minute before Talking amongst themselves again in the same strange language. 

“Well I don’t know if you’re telling us the truth or not, but it’s about time for the morning meal.” Kotake said bringing Melissa’s attention to how hungry she was.

“We will send someone up with some proper clothes. When you’re done making yourself presentable, she will take you to the main hall to eat.” Kotake spoke looking her up and down, making Melissa very self-conscious about the fact she was only wearing a night shirt. “ After, I am sure our Lord will want to question you as well. Also, while outside your room, you will stay with who we send at all times. Is that understood?”

Melissa nodded and the mention of their Lord sent a shiver down her spine. If they were speaking of who she thought they were, she would rather stay locked in this room. 

They turned to fly out, but Kotake hesitated by the door. “Oh and if you think you can just run away, don't think you will get very far. There are guards at every entrance and exit. You don't fool me at all, but your fate is sadly not up to me. Our King will know exactly what to do with you.” Kotake gave a menacing smile before closing the door behind her and once again locking it.

These event left her even more confused than before. How was she to get out of this? She didn't want to meet their king and the prospect of it was starting to make her sick with worry. She paced the room trying to think of what to do. After a while, she heard the sound of the lock being opened, and she stopped waiting to see who they had chosen to keep her in line.

“Hello?” came a very young sounding voice. 

Her new ward peaked around the edge of the door and Melissa saw that the voice completely matched the girls appearance. She was a slim, average height girl, with short hair, and yellow eyes. 

This was who they sent? She couldn't have been more than Melissa's age. She had been expecting someone more like the rough woman from last night, so this surprise left her unsure if she should be relieved, or not. She supposed that looks could be deceiving, but this girl didn't look like she would be able to put up much of a fight. Especially if Melissa chose to ran. Perhaps that is why Kotake had finished with her little warning. 

“You can speak English to?” Melissa asked, deciding to be civil. 

For now, she would just behave... at least till she could think of the best way to escape.

“Not so fast. I can’t speak as well.” the girl said shaking her head. 

Melissa bowed her head in apology which only made the girl chortle.

“My name Chara.” the girl laughed studying her.

“ And I'm Melissa.” she replied introducing herself as well.

The girl nodded and set straight to work. Melissa was unsure about stripping in front of a stranger, even if it was only to her underwear, but Chara gave her no choice. The girl just yanked the shirt off of her and handed her a set a clothes.

“The desert very hot. You thank. You see.” Chara said chuckling as Melissa clung to her old shirt. 

The garb she was handed, looked like the warrior's outfits from the night before. It was a beautiful shade of green and somehow who ever had picked it out had gotten all the measurements right. It fit her perfectly and surprisingly suited her frame. 

“Now we eat.” Chara said heading to the door, after Melissa had finished inspecting herself. “Follow please.”

Melissa had no choice but to do exactly that.


	3. Chapter 3

As they walked, Melissa tried to learn as much as she could from Chara as they made their way to breakfast. The soldiers she'd seen fighting yesterday had ended up retreating, leaving the battle a draw. Many of the Gerudos had been injured, but the same could be said of the Hyrulian soldiers. So hopefully they wouldn’t be back for a while. No one seemed to know why Hyrule was trying to invade. From what Chara was telling her, neither the gerudo, nor their king, had done anything to provoke such assaults. True, the evil king Ganondorf was the villain and usually the instigator of all the bad that befell this world, but according to Chara he hadn’t done a thing. Melissa didn’t believe her though. He wasn’t called the dark lord for nothing and Hyrule wouldn’t be sending soldiers unless they suspected something, but she kept these thoughts to herself.

Her mind began to wander as they moved through the torch lit halls. If Ganondorf was real, wouldn’t that mean Link was also out there? Probably gathering items and powers to fight Ganon once more. She hoped she could catch a glimpse of him and smiled to herself. Her sisters would be so jealous if she actually got that chance. That is if her sisters believed her... but this would take escaping. 

“You teach me speak ancient?” Chara asked, bring her mind back to the present. 

“Sure, if I can.” Melissa agreed distractedly, now trying to think of ways to stall her meeting with the evil king, but all her plans were for not. Right in front of her stood the dining hall and there at the very back “He” sat. 

She frowned in dismay. She had hoped he would be too important to even be here with the rest of the tribe, but no such luck for her, and no matter how inconspicuous she tried to be, Melissa knew she would stick out like a sore thumb. Being so pale compared to everyone else, of course it wouldn't take long to be spotted. She tried not to look at him as she followed Chara to a seat, but even with her eyes downcast, she could feel the stares of everyone around her. Some looked curious. Others gave her looks of hatred. Nervously Melissa brushed her hair over her ear and there was a collected gasp from the women watching. Just what she didn’t need. She spared a glance at the throne where Ganon sat and just as she feared he was now staring directly at her. Melissa turned her head as quickly away as she could, and to her relief and dismay, Chara had found them a spot uncomfortably close to him. Even sitting with her back to him, she could feel his gaze bearing down on her, but on a more positive note, no one was giving her looks of hatred anymore. 

She tried to forget everything and just eat. The food didn’t look too appetizing, but she grabbed a piece of stale bread anyways. It ended up being so tough to chew that it took a little gnawing to even get a piece small enough to swallow. Some of the gerudo around her started to giggle, so she abandoned her bread for a drink instead. Taking a sip, she was happy to find it was quite pleasant. It almost reminded her of the agave cactus juice she used to get at the store, and before she knew it, she had finished it off. With nothing left to do, she turned to Chara and tried to make small talk with her, but stopped when she noticed that most of the girls were very quiet. It must be “His” presence that left a hush in the room. 

“Our great lord would like to see you.”She heard a voice behind her speak, causing her to jump.

It was Kotake and she tensed up wanting so desperately to stay where she was. She was too close to him as it was, but with the prodding from the witch behind her, she reluctantly got up and made her way to the throne where he sat. She was too scared to meet his eyes, so all she could do was stare at her feet.

If she had thought the room quiet before, that was nothing compared to the hush that fell when he spoke. His deep voice resounded about the hall in the same strange language the others had used before.

“He is ordering you to Look up!” Kotake hissed at her, elbowing her in the back.

She didn't want to, but what choice did she have? Lifting her head slowly she tried to compose her face into something a little less fearful. Her gaze met a pair of brooding amber eyes, but she did not stop there. If she was forced to look at this man, she might as well examine all of him. To her surprise, he looked a lot like the version of Ganondorf from Twilight Princess. He sported the same beard and weird hair style that he had in the game, and his skin was much darker than any of the women here. As her eyes looked him over more, she noticed Koume was hovering around him busily. They had taken off his armor, revealing his muscled chest and torso which Koume was busily wrapping a bandage around. He must have been wounded last night, and secretly she thought he had probably deserved it. 

After they had both made their mental observations of each other, Melissa could only stand there silently as Kotake flew to his side and spoke to him. She wondered what the old hag was telling him. He looked almost disinterested with what the witch was saying, but perked up after a second.

“This Hylian can speak Gerudo?” He responded raising an eyebrow, before giving her a skeptical look.

“Yes my son.” Kotake said bowing and moving out of his way as he stood up.

Melissa wondered if he had switched to speaking ancient so to test if she truly could understand him. Wait had Kotake just called him her son?

“So, is Zelda so short on soldiers that she is now sending little girls?” Ganondorf asked letting out a deep and menacing chuckle. 

Instinctively Melissa stepped back afraid, which only made him laugh at her more. Her fear seemed to amuse him, and all she could do was watch helplessly as he descended the stairs to where she stood. There was nowhere to escape now. She tried her best to calm her nerves, but just couldn't stop the slight shaking overtaking her legs. 

As he came to a stop in front of her, she felt so small standing in his shadow. He really was a giant of a man, and now towering over her, he studied her a little more, mumbling to himself as he went. Reaching out, he moved to brush the hair over her ear, causing her to recoil away, not wanting him to touch her. 

“I won’t hurt you… yet.” He chuckled, finding entertainment in how uncomfortable his presence was making her. 

Once again his hand reached out, but this time Melissa stood her ground. She was not about to give him the satisfaction. Before he could touch her, she pulled her hair up giving him a defiant glare. 

“Your ears do not appear to be pointed... how interesting. ” He said ignoring her stare, a menacing grin spreading across his face. “I thought you said she speaks.” He said turning away to look back at Koume and Kotake.

“She does my son.” Koume said coming to their side. 

Wait Koume was his mother to? How the heck did that happen? This was starting to get very confusing.

“Well... Speak. ” He commanded looking down at her.

This of course made her jump. 

“I-- I don’t know what you want me to say.” She stammered. 

“Then let's start with what tribe you are from.”He offered. 

“Tribe? I'm not from any tribe.” Melissa responded meekly.

“Well if you are not a part of a tribe, how do you know our ancient language? It is not easy to learn and is only fully taught to those of us who use Magic now. It is not something you can learn from just anyone.” He demanded crossing his arms, staring her down.

“It is one of the main languages of where I am from.”Melissa replied nervously backing away only to bump into Koume, making her jump once again. “Look I just want to go home. I don't know how I even got here. I... I...” Melissa stopped with tears in her eyes. She was definitely on the verge of a breakdown. 

“Enough! I need none of your hysterics.” Ganon barked, glaring at her. “I'm not quite sure if you are Gerudo or Hylian, and at this point it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that your fear shows you know who I am. So tell me... where do your loyalties lie? Who do your people swear allegiance to?”

Wiping her eyes, she tried her best to get a hold of herself. Of course she knew who he was. She was sure that even in Hyrule, even if they had never personally seen this man, they would know who he was right away. As far as loyalties went, she knew that she would side with Link and Hyrule because they were always the side of good, but he didn't have to know that.

“I don't really know. My people don't live anywhere near this place or Hyrule. I guess we are on no one's side.” Melissa replied trying to be diplomatic. This information also seemed to peek his interest. Ganon began to talk in the same weird language again to Koume and Kotake. Melissa wondered what they were discussing because they kept glancing at her. Would they believe her? The girls around the room seemed to listen intently to what was being said, but Melissa could only stand there feeling left out.

Finally Koume said something to which Kotake seemed to be vehemently against. Ganon on the other hand just kept looking thoughtfully at Melissa, not really listening to the two of them now. She could see the cogs in his head turning which made her very wary. A smile spread across his face and he stepped closer to her, leaving the two witches to argue amongst themselves.

“What magics do you know?” he asked more softly. 

“Magic?” Melissa echoed with a complete look of confusion. “But Magic isn't real.” 

Her comment of course earned her a funny look making her feel stupid for even opening her mouth. Especially when she remembered where she was.

“I assure you you it is quite real.” Ganon responded with a frown. “What about your parents, your people? Surely they know something of the arts.” He asked brows furrowing.

Melissa could only shake her head which seemed to disappoint him more. Why would he even want to know this?

“We could see if she could be taught.” Koume offered.

“What? Why would you want to do that?” Melissa blurted out confused once more.

Would she try if given the chance? She knew it could be a means of escape, but doubted she would be able to do it. 

“The hylians have recently taken over our home in Gerudo Valley. This last battle has left a lot of us wounded. We need numbers before the Hylian's restock and heal.” Koume said trying to explain their situation.

“I have no intention of fighting anyone, and I doubt anyone from where I am from would want to either.” Melissa responded before she thought about what she should be saying. 

She felt no sympathy for their predicament. They had most likely brought this upon themselves, and though Melissa liked Koume just a little, she knew better than to trust anyone here. 

Ganondorf glared and scoffed at her. “ If you won’t fight with us then you are of no more use to me.”

Melissa didn't quite know how to take this statement. Did that mean he would kill her? Melissa looked around for a way out, but knew even if she managed to escape there was no way she would make it across the desert and what's worse, he knew it. 

Arms crossed, he waited for her to answer his threat, but Melissa, no matter how scared she was of him, wasn’t about to take this crap from him. If he was just going to kill her anyway, why should she? 

Turning around, she began walking to the exit. This brought on another volley of gasps from the surrounding tables. Melissa guessed that he probably wasn’t told “no” much, but at this point, she didn’t care. Having almost reached the door, she could hear his heavy footsteps coming up from behind her. Why let him stab her in the back? Better to face this head on. 

Spinning herself around, brought her face to face with the dark king. This close, she realized he was trying to conceal the fact that he was out of breath. His wound must have been worse than Melissa first believed. 

“How dare you turn your back on me?” He growled, anger flashing in his eyes.

Usually Melissa was meek. She didn’t even know why she felt the strong urge to fight with him. Knowing his history it was just plain stupid. He could strike her down where she stood.

“What do you mean How Dare I? I might ask you the same thing. I might speak your language, but I am not one of your subjects you can just boss around. You expect me to just bow to your every whim? Well let me make this clear! I will NOT be pressured to do anything I wouldn’t normally do. Not by you or anyone else.” Melissa found herself yelling at him.

With that, he pushed her forcibly against the door knocking the wind out of her. His face was livid as he held her there and the Triforce on his hand began to glow. Melissa thought maybe he was about to obliterate her using the Triforce of Power, but when she looked into his eyes, he seemed just as surprised as she was scared. 

With no better plan of action coming to mind, she took this moment of confusion to twist the door handle and try to escape from his grip. Sadly, this action only caused the two of them to fall through the door and Ganon to land on top of her. His body was quite heavy and pinned her to the ground. They lay there for a moment dazed, but he quickly realized what had happened and rolled off her. It took a little longer for the initial shock to wear off for her, but once she could breath again, she quickly sprung up and broke out into a run. Sparing one glimpse back, she watched him struggle to his feet. This only made her run faster down the hall, and she did not even have the time to try and pay attention to where she was going. 

“Stop!” she heard him yell after her, but there was no way she was going to do so.

She didn’t know how many corridors she had ran down, but she wasn't going to stop till she was sure she had put some distance between her and Ganondorf. She felt thoroughly lost and was now starting to get tired, but the thought of what he might do to her if she couldn't find her way out of this place, was all she needed to keep going. 

Finally she reached a big pair of double doors and slowed. Could this be the exit she was looking for? Approaching it caused a red glowing pattern to trace its way up the door and it swung open on its own. She stood there, knowing that she probably shouldn’t go through. A door as fancy as that usually had a boss creature laying in wait to kill the unsuspecting hero. 

As she pondered whether or not to enter she began to hear heavy footsteps behind her. She turned around to see an angry looking Ganon standing at the beginning of the hallway, and this time he couldn’t hide his panting. She didn’t even have to think about it. Nothing could be stronger than the man in front of her. Better to face a creature than this man's wrath. Quickly she ran through the doors, which closed fairly quick behind her leaving her in the dark. She just hoped it was quick enough and that he had no time to follow, but to her dismay she heard his deep voice call from within the darkness.

“I said...*huff**huff*... Wait.” His breathing was so labored.

Next thing she heard was a thud. Had he collapsed? Was he dead? She doubted that but what should she do? She couldn't see anything at all. What if this was a trick to make her think she was safe? What if it wasn't? She couldn't hear anything now and it made her worry. Melissa moved back till she hit the wall and followed it till she made it back to the double doors. Feeling around for a handle, she found none. Next she tried pushing against it, but it wouldn't budge either. 

Sinking to the floor, she gave up. She was now locked in a room with a very dangerous man. She still couldn't hear anything from Ganon and she was pretty sure if he was conscious he would have found her by now. A desperate thought occurred to her. Maybe if she tried to help him he would spare her life. It was a long shot, but it was all she had. She would rather live. Besides, waiting for him to regain consciousness only to find her cowering in a corner didn't seem like it would do her any good either. 

“Where are you?” She called to him just in case he was awake enough to guide her to him, but was only met with silence. 

Dropping to the floor, all she could do was feel around as she searched for his body. She didn't have to crawl around long, before her hand touched his bare skin and the Triforce lit up again. It was bright enough to light up the entire room, which looked to be a crypt of some sort. Looking down at Ganon, she saw his eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, proving he was still alive. She lifted his head and cradled it in her lap. She may not like him, but she would do this if it meant she might live another day. She hated to admit it, but even though he was the bad guy, she didn't like to see anyone hurt. She could see blood starting to seep through his bandage, and she guiltily thought about letting him bleed to death, but instead she applied pressure to the wound to try and staunch the bleeding. If he died she might not be able to get out of this room and he might know how to open the door that wouldn't budge for her.


	4. Chapter 4

After a short while, Melissa dared to lift her hands from his wound. His bleeding seemed to have stopped, but his breathing still seemed a little labored. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there looking after him, but her legs were starting to fall asleep, and she was itching to stand. The light glowing from his hand casted an eerie glow on their surroundings and she could see some major cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. She could only pray they weren’t from skulltula. 

Thinking about that was a big mistake because being in a crypt made her think of all the creepy creatures she had fought in the game. She knew she didn’t want to run into any gibdo or re-dead down here. Those creatures scared her the most and at that thought, Melissa heard a groan that made her eyes dart around startled, but soon she realized the noise was not coming from any undead creature. 

Melissa watched nervously as Ganondorf began to stir. His eyes fluttered open, and in that moment, she wondered who she should really be more afraid of. Him, or the monsters that possibly hunted this crypt. He looked at her rather confused, but finally, he realized his head was lying in her lap, and tried to get up. Sadly, he couldn’t seem to do so on his own. 

Helping him to a sitting position, she held him there, letting him gain control of his balance, before letting go. The light from his hand faded, and once again, they were plunged into darkness. He didn't say a word. All she she could hear was his breathing and the silence was beginning to make her worried. What was he thinking? Now that she couldn't escape, would he finish her off? 

Feeling something wrap around her wrist, she let out a scream, and light flooded the room once more. She couldn't have felt more an idiot, for acting like such a girl, when she realized it was Ganon. Looking at him, she noted he was staring at his hand, muttering to himself. 

“Why does it do that when you touch me?” she finally asked breaking his train of thought. 

He looked at her with even more interest now. “The Triforce is reacting to you.” He replied, lifting his hand then putting it back on her, testing the phenomenon. 

As interesting as it was, she didn’t feel she had time for him to play around. “I noticed that! What I meant is why?” 

She could see him thinking about it, and if he had an answer, he decided not to reveal it to her. 

“How did you get this door open? It hasn’t been open since the reign of the last King.” He asked instead. 

“... I... wait... What?” She responded, brow furrowing. 

She thought he would have still been mad at her for running away, but he showed no signs of anger. Instead He seemed to be patiently waiting for a response to his question. Had opening the door been so significant that it could cause him to forget what had just happened? She guessed she should answer him. She didn't want to give him any reason to be angry with her again. 

“I don’t really know. A pattern just started to glow on it as I got close and... yeah.” She trailed off, not understanding the importance of it. 

At this new news Ganon went back to his thoughts. She really wished he would let go of her arm, though if he did, they would probably loose their only light source. Melissa instead, stared around the room, ready to leave this creepy place. That is if the door would open. Ganondorf on the other hand didn't seem worried about leaving in the least. Standing up, he began jerking her around with him, grasping her wrist tight as she tried to pull away. 

“I’m not a flashlight you know.” Melissa complained upset that he was jerking her around just for the light. “Can’t you light up your hand by yourself?” but he ignored her and just kept methodically checking every nook and cranny of the room. 

After not finding what he was searching for, he started pushing open the tops of the sarcophagi. 

“Isn’t that a bad idea?” Melissa mumbled. “I mean not only is it disrespectful but what if there are Poes or Gibdo in one of those?” 

“Are you scared?” He asked with an evil grin, removing his hand, plunging them back in darkness. 

“Ok, this isn't funny.” she called to him, reaching out blindly. 

Walking towards the back of the room, she held her hands in front of her, searching and trying not to panic. It was weird how just a few moments ago, all she wanted was to get away from him, but now she was trying to find him, like he was some kind of lifeline. 

“There is nothing to fear as long as you are with me.” She heard him call from somewhere in front of her. 

She noticed as she got closer to the back of the room the same pattern appeared on the back wall. She reached out and touched it jerking back when she felt the stone move beneath her fingers as if it were alive. Torch light spilled through the new hole in the wall. She could now see Ganondorf standing not too far away from her. 

“That wasn’t very nice.” she said realizing how stupid that comment sounded as he gave her one of those evil smiles again. 

Maybe this new passage would get her out. She crawled through with no hesitation and found herself in another hallway. Looking back she noticed Ganondorf was barely squeezing though the hole. It apparently hadn't been meant for someone his size and his broad shoulders were making it a difficult squeeze. He definitely wouldn’t have been able to get through if his armor had still been on. 

He clutched his bandage as he twisted to get through. A look of pain crossed his face as he straightened up and dropped his hand. She could see that his wound had opened up again. 

“You really need to be a little more careful.” She said looking at the blood seeping through the bandage. 

Not really knowing why she walked up to him and put pressure on it to try and stop the bleeding again which caused him to grunt in pain. Why was she doing this? Surly he would kill her once they got out of here. She shouldn't be doing this but the weirdest thing was he was letting her. She peaked up at him and thought for a moment he was actually looking at her kindly. His expression changed to fast to be sure though. It must have been her imagination. 

“Enough of this. Let’s get moving.” He said pushing her away looking down the hall. 

He grabbed two of the torches off the wall and handed one to her. 

“What exactly are you looking for?” she asked curious. 

“There is said to be a sword. It was rumored to be passed down from king to king. “He replied as they walked. “It will help us greatly in our battle against those high and mighty Hylians. They think because they own the most fertile land that they can rule over us. It won’t be that way forever though. With the Triforce of power and the Sword of Kings I will finally have the power to teach them a lesson. I will have Hyrule!” He said with a lustful look in his eyes. 

She knew it had to be something like that. Ganon would never change. No matter how often he was bested by Link he would always crave the power to dominate every living thing. 

They rounded the corner and there it was. Huge and bulbous. Its eight hairy legs took up most of the hall. She figured with all the webs she had seen down here there had to be at least one skulltula. It spotted them and let out an ear piercing screech. Ganon handed his torch to Melissa and pushed her back. 

“Stay behind me.” He ordered. 

Was he actually protecting her? She stepped back as the humongous spider charged at them. Even with his wound slowing him down Ganondorf was fast. She now realized how Ganon had kept up with her. Pulling out a dagger he drove it back and flipped it over revealing it's soft unprotected underbelly. It screeched again as he stabbed it a few times. It twitched for a few seconds before it went limp. 

“Is it dead?” She said slowly moving forward as he kicked it for good measure. 

It didn't move so she guessed it was. Melissa had never really been scared of spiders but even dead this skulltula made her uneasy. To continue she was going to have to climb over it and the thought of even touching it was too much for her. 

“Well come on! I don't have all day.” Ganon said waiting impatiently for her on the other side of it. 

Would he leave her if she didn't move? She inched closer to it repulsed but she had no choice. She grabbed one of it's hairy legs to pull herself up an onto its abdomen. She was having a hard time keeping steady because she was having to carry two torches in her other hand and it's wounds were leaking a fowl smelling liquid which she guessed was the arachnid's blood. She slipped down to the other side and inched around the rest of it. She hesitated as she looked into it's eyes. They seemed to almost watch her. From it's jaws dripped more of the fowl substance. Quickly she ran to Ganon's side to get away from it. 

He looked amused again and shook his head smiling which quickly turned to a frown. He drew his dagger and Melissa gasped. Was this it? Had he really made her climb over the stupid spider only to bring him his torch so he could have some light with which to kill her by? He rushed at her causing her to let go of the torches like an idiot. Melissa put her hands up not that it would do any good against a dagger. Shutting her eyes she waited for the final blow. She should have used the torches to defend herself but stupid her had to drop them. She hadn't even had time to scream before she realized he had wrapped his arm around her. She felt him thrust upward which made her eyes shoot open. She had expected it to hurt but when she felt nothing she looked around and saw the reasons for his actions. The spider apparently wasn't as dead as they had thought. 

So Ganon hadn't been trying to kill her. Instead he was protecting her... but why? What reason did he have to keep her alive? He pushed her behind him and thrust the dagger at the skulltula once again but it knocked it from his hand. It seemed rather smart for a spider but the loss of a weapon didn't seem to bother Ganon in the least. Fainting to the left ,as the spider lunged at him, he rammed his fist right down on the spiders head with as much force as he could muster causing it to explode. Melissa looked at the mess disgusted by the bug innards that had splattered everywhere. 

Ganon wiped his hand off on his pants and picked up the torches handing her one. “I told you as long as your with me you will be safe.” 

Melissa didn't quite know how to respond. She just stared at him as he retrieved his dagger also cleaning it on his pants leg. She noticed his bandage was a little more soaked with blood. It was probably caused from him moving his arm so violently down on the bug's head. She kind of felt a little indebted to him for saving her life but she would never admit it to him. 

“You should be more careful when you are wounded.” Melissa finally said coming to his side. “You don’t want to lose all your blood and pass out again do you?” He looked down at his chest. A line of blood was dripping from under his bandage. She went to try and put pressure on it again but he smacked her hand away. “What are you? My Mother?” He said sarcastically wiping the line of blood off. 

He applied pressure himself this time as they traveled down the tunnel in silence. It eventually opened up into a mid-sized room with more coffins which ended up a dead end. 

“There has to be more.” Ganon said to himself searching the room. “I don’t see the king’s tomb anywhere.” 

Melissa decided to let him search by himself. She didn’t know how powerful this sword was but most likely it wouldn’t be good if he got his hands on it. Surely it wasn't stronger than the master sword. 

She walked the walls and stared at the pictures that someone had painted beautifully upon them. It almost looked as if it were depicting Gerudo desert but as a beautiful forest. She wondered if maybe once this land had been more than a barren wasteland. She reached an odd section of the mural that seemed to stick out from the wall and had the shape of a door but it had no handle. As she drew close to inspect it the same pattern traced its way up the wall again. 

“Another hidden door? ” Ganon exclaimed turning to the sound of the rock grinding back. 

As he peered through the opening a look of triumph crossed his face but it was short lived as a familiar groaning began to fill the room. It was the sound a re-dead would make when it was close by and she recognized it from all those times playing ocarina of time. Slowly the corpses from the coffins he had opened began to rise. She had never been so scared in her life. A hand fell on her shoulder causing her to jump. She hadn’t even realized Ganon had walked to her side. 

The creatures were now climbing out of the coffins and heading their way. The image of them would probably be ingrained into her nightmares for sometime to come. If their rotted skin, gaunt figures, and eyeless sockets weren't scary enough they were doing this creepy head twitch. The one closest to them opened it's jagged toothed mouth letting out an ear piercing scream as it drew close. Melissa knew that it was supposed to have the power of paralysis so she had covered her ears before it had done so. She looked to Ganon who had apparently done the same. 

“Go!” he said pushing her through the opening as the monster leapt and grabbed a hold of him sinking it's rotten teeth into his shoulder. 

She could only watch in horror as Ganon grappled with it and to make matters worse the opening slammed shut. She was now alone in a place she didn’t want to be not knowing if the only person who was protecting her at the time was still alive. 


	5. Chapter 5

She just started crying. Was he okay? She pressed her ear to the stone to see if she could hear anything but it was silent. No sound could penetrate the thick stone. She didn't quite understand why she was crying for him but for some reason she just couldn't help it. He was Ganondorf so surely he would be okay but he was wounded and the fact that he had passed out before made her worry for him. She had to repay him somehow but she couldn't do that if he was dead. 

When she finally got a hold of herself she lifted her head to look around. She spotted what looked to be a throne carved out of a smooth red stone. On it was a skeleton. A crown had fallen around its neck. Whoever it was must have been the last ruler of this temple. She realized this must be the tomb Ganon had been looking for. 

She wasn’t too keen on being close to the skeletal remains just in case it ended up being a stalfos. As she turned to try and find another way out she heard a man’s voice calling to her. Was it Ganon calling to her from the other side of the wall? She put her ear to the wall again and heard the voice once more. 

Realizing it was coming from behind her she turned to see that the skeleton had been replaced by a smiling man. He was transparent like a ghost wearing white armor and a red cape. Somehow the crown had moved from his throat back to his head where it belonged. He had kind wizened eyes that had that same yellow color that Ganon’s did. She hoped this wasn’t some trap. 

“Hello Melissa.” The ghostly man said to her. 

How did he know her name? 

“Do I know you?” She asked him. 

“No not personally.” He said sadly. “Let me introduce myself.” He said making a kingly bow. “I am King Midas. The former king of the Gerudo people and lets say for now that I am a friend who wants to help lead you in the right direction.”   
He smiled kindly at her before continuing.   
“ I know you have many questions so let me explain what I can. First of all you are a descendent from our great tribe.”  
He paused there to let the information sink in.

She stared at him. “How is that even possible?” She asked unsure that he was telling the truth.

“It is possible because your many great grandmother was sent to the planet you now call home.” He responded. 

She turned to find a way out. She didn’t have time for lies. Ganon could be dying on the other side and as much as she hated to admit it she cared about what was happening to him. 

“Don’t you want to know what happened?” He asked surprised that she wasn't remotely interested in what he had to say. 

“I don’t have time for this now.” She replied. “My friend on the other side of this wall is probably being mauled to death.”  
Had she heard herself right? Did she just call the King of evil her friend? 

“If I save your friend will you listen to my story?” He asked. 

Melissa thought about it for a second before nodding and for a minute the ghost vanished. He reappeared again shortly smiling once more. 

“It is good to see you consider our current King your friend. Not many would call him that.” This he said with a frown. “He has unfortunately lost his way and I’m afraid his mother’s haven’t helped either but you... you could change all that.” He said smile returning. 

“How could I possibly change someone like him?” Melissa asked unsure of what he was implying. 

“You see you come from a long line of special Gerudos. They are called the Sword of Kings. None of my people even remember this now and I guess it is my fault.” He said with a sad look. 

So the sword of kings wasn’t an actual sword at all. 

“Really and truly the sword of kings is the guardian of the King, and one of the guardian Dragons of the Triforce as you will. All three pieces have guardians. Not only were you transported here that night but two others were awakened to this world just as you were.” 

So Melissa wasn’t alone. Two others had come to this world as well. 

“Wait what do you mean dragon?!?! Other Gerudo Kings possessed a piece of the Triforce? I thought Ganon stole his.” She asked confused because the game had said nothing of this.

“He didn’t steal it per say. The sages locked up the Triforce thinking it would be better if everyone were equal. Our present king just felt that they had stolen his birth right and went to reclaim it. I do agree that he went the wrong way about it. As far as the part about being a guardian dragon… well you will find that out sooner than you know.” He responded. There was a long pause before he started again. “It was my fault.” He finally said burying his face in his hands but he straightened himself regaining his composer. “I could have saved our people, if only I hadn’t sent the guardians away.” He continued with the saddest look on his face. “Please listen to my story well.” He begged to which Melissa could only nod. 

“Long ago this land was peaceful and beautiful. Not the dry ocean of sand you see now. Our towns rivaled that of Hyrule's royal city. My queen, your many great Grandmother was the guardian of the Triforce of wisdom. My sword of Kings.” A single tear slid down his face. 

“Wait she was your queen to?” Melissa asked trying to make sense of what she was being told.

“Yes she was. You have her eyes.” He said looking at her softly. “We had no clue of the danger that was coming. He just appeared suddenly. He claimed to be a humble traveling wizard from the north. His name was Agahnim. He said that he only needed a place to rest for a few days, and even though my beloved warned me there was something not right with that man, I ignored her. Why didn’t I listen?” He said shaking his head. “We had no reason to believe this man would have the power to destroy our home. It only took a few days to see the results of the curse he had placed on our land. The plants withered and the water dried up. We could not stop the spread of ruin he had brought upon us. Not even with the Triforce. What ever his method was it was beyond my power to stop.”

Well that explained why the paintings in the other room depicted this place differently than what it was today. She wondered why, if he had loved her grandmother so much, would he send her away. She didn't have to wait long till he answered that question. 

“He came to me and my wife one day in our audience hall. He confessed to the destroying of our land and told me that if I sent the Triforce guardians to another dimension that he would stop the spread of the desert that was consuming this world little by little. I just couldn’t see how I could send my love away like that, but my wife had such a big heart. Even though it was too late for our land she was determined to save the rest of Hyrule. After months of pleading she convinced me. I sent her and the others to the planet you call earth. I don’t know what the wizard planed to gain from it but the desert stopped consuming the land. I do know the absence of the guardians made it possible for the thievery of the Triforce pieces.” He looked so filled with grief. 

“So how did you know my name?” she asked feeling pity for him.

” I kept an eye on my descendents.” He said trying to manage a smile. “Though you were not born from my blood you are still of hers.” He paused again “I must implore you to break the curse with the help of the other guardians. Bring prosperity back to our land. Stay by our kings side and guide him.” 

“What do you mean stay by his side. I want to go home. I have a life on earth. I have family and a fiance' that loves me.” She said feeling he asked too much of her. 

“Give him a chance. You might find him to be a wonderful mate.” the ghost king said without a hint of joking.  
Now he was stepping over the lines. 

“What part of I have a fiance' don’t you understand. Did you bring me here?” She asked upset he would even suggest this. 

“This is the way it has always been. You are the sword of kings. You must be at his side. And no I did not bring you here. I do not possess that power anymore.” He said calmly trying to explain. 

“I don’t want any part of this. There is nothing special about me. I’m no dragon or sword.” She shouted hysterical. 

He looked at her with pity in his eyes. “I’m afraid I cannot send you home. I am dead you see. I no longer have a piece of the Triforce to send you back. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

Melissa just started crying again. 

“Could He send me back?” she asked looking toward the sealed passage trying to hold onto a shred of hope. 

“Well he hasn’t had the time the other kings have had with the Triforce. He has not the skill to perform that technique yet.” He responded. 

She hoped he was lying. “I will find a way home. First chance I get I am going back home to my Love.” 

He had a look of guilt on his face after she said that. “I will transport you and your companion back to the entrance.” He said trying to hide how much her last comment had hurt creating a mysterious light on the ground. 

With a wave of his hand the wall opened revealing Ganon waiting for her on the other side. He stepped into the room not looking too worse for wear other than a bite mark on his left shoulder in a shape of a crescent where the re-dead had latched on and maybe just being slightly paler than his usual dark olive tan. 

He studied the room and she was sure he was hunting for the sword of kings. He had no way of knowing that instead of it being a sharpened blade, it was the weakling girl standing in front of him the whole time. He looked disappointed when he saw no trace of it. 

“You may leave through this portal.” Midas said to Ganon pointing to the glowing spot on the floor. 

Ganon looked once more around before he stepped into the light and motioned for Melissa to follow. Not seeing the sword he must have given up.

“Give him a chance.” the ghost whispered into her ear as she passed by. 

“Never!” She whispered back before stepping into the light.


	6. Chapter 6

They appeared just outside the big double doors. The nerve of the old ghost asking her to do such a thing. She could feel the heat of her anger spreading through her. Jimmy had been hurt once before. She promised it would never happen again and she had meant it. She would cause him no pain just because someone thought it was her duty. 

Ganon started escorting her down the hall. He gripped her arm as if he thought she was going to run off again. 

“Where are we going?”She asked curiously. 

“Some place we can talk.” He replied apparently upset he hadn’t found the treasure he was looking for. 

“Don’t you need someone to look after your wounds first?” She insisted. 

“No! We will talk first.” He sounded agitated so she didn’t say anymore. 

They walked in silence for a while. She had a feeling he was going to be asking her about what the ghost king had said to her. She didn’t know what she was going to tell him. She needed time to think herself. All she knew is she wouldn’t be mentioning the sword of kings to him anytime soon. The closer they got to the main hall the more she could hear people running around and shouting. As they came into view of everyone the Gerudo stopped. They stared from their King, to Melissa, and then back again. 

“What is the Meaning of all this commotion?” Ganon barked at them. 

Koume and Kotake flew into view. 

“Where have you been?” Koume asked. 

“We were worried about you.” said Kotake. 

When they spotted the new wound they gasped and gave Melissa an evil look. “ Don't look at me. I didn't bite him.” Melissa said upset they would even think she would do something like that. 

“Then how did he get it?” Kotake said pointing a finger at her in anger. 

“Oh no your bleeding again. I just bandaged that.” Koume said fretting over him again. 

“Do I look a child to you mother?” Ganon asked angrily. “ I have business to attend to with this one.” he said pointing at Melissa. 

“Well you’re not doing anything till we get you patched up again.” They said together. 

Koume started ushering a pissed off looking Ganon down another hallway. He glanced back at Melissa before he was pushed down a different hall. 

“Chara” Kotake called to the group of girls. Chara stepped out of the group and bowed awaiting orders. 

“Take this one to her room.”Kotake commanded with that she flew off to join her sister. 

It was a silent trek back to her room. Chara wouldn’t even speak to her. It was okay though. First thing she did when she got in her room was plop down on the cot. The old ghost didn’t know what he was talking about. She was just a regular nobody. Not a sword or a dragon or whatever else he had called her. She just couldn’t believe it. What did he mean she would find out soon? Her stomach was turning in knots so she decided to just take a nap. Maybe with a little luck she would wake up in her own bed. 

She woke to the sound of the door opening. Opening her eyes she saw Koume and Kotake enter. She turned over to face the wall. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone. 

“Melissa.” She heard Koume speak softly to her. “He wishes to see you. He has some question to ask you.” 

When Melissa didn’t respond Kotake yanked her by the hair. 

“Owwie!” Melissa objected rubbing her head. 

“Get up now and come with us.” Kotake said firmly. 

Though Melissa really didn't want to she did what she was told and followed them as they led her down the hall which by now was becoming a little familiar to her. They went past the main hall and down the hall Ganon had been ushered through before. A little ways down they stopped in front of an ornate door. Koume opened it and gestured for her to enter. 

His room looked like nothing she would have pictured him in. Rows of thick tomes lined the wall. It was like a library. Not that she didn’t think he read, she just couldn’t picture him sitting down and taking the time to do so. They turned past a stack of books and walked up to his bed where he laid looking paler than the last time she saw him. She noticed that the bandages were still soaking up blood from the wound he had gotten in battle. 

“We have brought the girl.” Kotake said shaking his arm trying to rouse him. 

His eyes did not even open. Was he still even breathing? Kotake looked worried at Koume. 

“Did you try sewing up the wound?” Melissa asked and they looked at her like she was crazy. “He has lost a lot of blood. If he continues at this rate he will die.” The two just looked at each other not really understanding what she was talking about. 

Melissa got a crazy idea. If she hadn't felt she owed him for earlier she would never have even contemplated doing this. She started to look around the room for anything she could use of course not seeing what she needed. 

“Ok. I am going to need some help if we are going to get him stable.” Melissa continued. They just kept staring at her. 

“I need one of you to sew him up.” She repeated. 

Kotake snapped out of it and went to get what she hoped was a needle and some thread. 

“Koume?” Melissa said turning to the witch who had yet to move. “I need to give him a blood transfusion.” The silence was thick in the room. “Koume?!?!” Melissa said urgently. “Do you want him to live?” That seemed to snap the other witch out of her trance. 

“What’s a blood transfusion?” Koume asked. 

“I don’t have time to explain. I need two tourniquets, a tube, and two hallowed out needles that can attach to the tube.” Melissa said worried they wouldn’t be able to find some of the equipment she needed for this. 

Surprisingly Koume was able to conjure up exactly what she needed within minutes. Kotake Had already started sewing him up and Melissa could see just how deep the wound really was. It looked as though someone had tried to impale his heart but only knew which side it was on. They had missed it completely which is why he had lasted as long as he had. 

He seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness but would wince every time the needle pierced his skin. She wondered if he could see them, or if he was even aware his wounds were that serious. Melissa sterilized the needles in a candle flame by his bed. It was the best she had to use at the time. She tied a tourniquet around both their arms just above the elbow so as to make the vein easier to find. Koume just watched her as she worked. Melissa had never done this before. She was so worried she was either going to do this wrong or that his body would reject the blood she gave him. It didn’t help that she had a fear of needles. She had already committed to saving his life so no turning back now. 

She winced as she poked the needle through her skin and into what she hoped was her vein. Sucking on the other end till the blood moved up the tube gave her a very odd sensation. When that was done she attached the other needle to the end and waited for the blood to fill the entire tube so as not to inject an air bubble into his arm. Now it was his turn to be poked. His went in easier and she wondered if he had even felt it. By now Kotake had finished and had joined her sister watching her. 

”Now we wait.” Melissa said unsure of how much she could give him without giving too much. 

She tried not to worry about it. All she could do was watch him. She had just noticed that they had taken off his crown and undid his hair. Long waves of bright red hair fell around his face and shoulders. She didn’t know why she hadn’t realized that the ridiculous hair style he wore used a lot of hair. It actually looked good down. She brushed the strand of hair back that had fallen over his eyes. 

What was she doing?!?! She stopped when she realized she had been stroking his face. The only reason she had noticed what she had done was because the Triforce had started to glow once again. Her hands had been on auto pilot and she felt ashamed for it. 

After a while color slightly started to return to him and Koume had found her a chair to sit in. She was grateful for a place to rest because she was starting to feel drained herself and wondered if that meant she should stop. Koume and Kotake kept asking her questions. Like “Where did you learn to do this?” and “Why hadn’t they heard of this technique?” She tried to answer them as best she could but she knew they wouldn’t quite get the idea of what a TV was. 

“My mom works at a hospital so she tells me a lot.” Melissa decided to tell them. 

This of course brought a new volley of questions. Melissa was starting to feel light headed and guessed she had probably given her limit. She detached the tube from his arm and hers. Holding pressure on both their arms till the bleeding stopped. He at least looked better and a little color had returned to his face. 

“I think he will be okay. It looks like his body is taking the blood.” She mumbled more to herself than anyone. 

Just then Melissa’s stomach growled. Kotake looked at her and realized that she hadn’t eaten anything since this morning. 

“Would you like to come and get some dinner” Kotake asked being a little nicer to her. 

Food sounded really good to her at that point. Melissa nodded and went to stand up. Big mistake. No sooner had she left the chair than her head began to spin. She fell forward and barely managed to catch herself before her head smacked the floor. 

“Oh My!” she heard Koume say. 

They helped her back onto the chair. 

“I will bring something to you then.” Kotake said giving her a worried look. 

“I’ll be okay.” Melissa tried to convince her. 

Kotake nodded then took off to find her something. Melissa looked back at the Ganon sleeping beside her. 

“We are even now.” She whispered to him. “I owe you nothing and you owe me nothing.” 

She thought she saw his mouth twitch. Was he pretending to be asleep? Oh well. Let him who cares. Koume moved to the other side of the bed to hold her son’s hand. She looked relieved. 

“So…” Koume started. “Tell me. What are your feelings toward our son?” Melissa tensed at the question, but she guessed she had meant that she was curious about when Melissa had caressed his face. Not that she knew anything about her many great grandmother and the role that the ghost king was expecting her to fill. 

“Uh… “Melissa said pausing not really sure herself. 

Since they had met this morning she had found him to be rough, arrogant, self centered, pig headed, and power hungry but he had also saved her life. She didn’t hate him quite as much as she thought she would if that was what she meant. 

“I don’t know what you mean.” Melissa finally replied. 

“Do you have feelings for him?”Koume asked her bluntly. 

“What? Why would you ask something like that?” Melissa stammered. “I have only just met your king plus I have a fiancé back at home whom I love and miss.” It felt good to her to say that. 

Once again she thought she had seen Ganon's face move. It must have been a trick of the candle light. “A fiancé …” Koume repeated to herself looking at her son again. 

Melissa's eyes teared up. She missed Jimmy so much. She wondered if he was okay. If he was searching for her. Melissa knew the witch hadn’t meant any harm but the mere subject of her feelings for this man before her was already becoming a sensitive subject. Koume looked at Melissa strangely and she felt she should explain just a little. 

“I’m sorry.” Melissa apologized.” It’s just something that ghost… I mean past King told me that is getting on my last nerve.” 

Koume looked very interested then. “Oh? What did he say?” She asked curious. 

Melissa decided to tell a little of what he had said. “He basically told me that I should forget about my home…my friends… my family… my love…” She left out the part about the ghost wanting her to marry their son. 

“I see.” said Koume. ”Did he say why you were to forget?” She asked trying to gleam information from her. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Melissa said flatly. “That is between me and the ghost king.” And Melissa left it at that. 

She looked back at Ganon laying there on the bed. His face almost looked as though he was disappointed. Melissa wished he would just stop pretending to be out cold and just get the questioning over with so she could go back to her room and break down. She noticed that his hand was still glowing even though she wasn’t touching him. “Why do you suppose his hand is doing that now?” Melissa asked using this opportunity to change the subject. 

“Koume looked down at his hand. “I don’t know.” she said picking it up to examine the Triforce mark. “Maybe it’s because of your blood.” 

That could make since Melissa thought. If just touching him made it glow certainly her blood would as well. Just then Kotake came back with a tray of food for everyone. She was using magic to levitate them in front of her. Koume went and grabbed two of them and passed one to Melissa. She was too hungry now to worry what it looked like and chowed down on what might have been a Cucoo drum stick. Kotake set a tray beside the bed for Ganon if he woke up. She figured he would wait till she left tough. Melissa finished the meal feeling a lot better. She could actually stand without teetering over. 

“It doesn’t look like he is going to wake anytime soon.”Melissa finally said after they had waited for a while. “I think I want to go to bed.” Melissa said standing up brushing off her clothes. 

“I guess we will guide you back to your room then?” Koume replied. 

Melissa got up and they made the trek back to her room. 

“We shall see you in the morning.” They said as she entered her room. 

She could hear them lock the door again but it didn't bother her tonight. Tomorrow would be a new day and though she had no idea what curve ball she would be thrown next she felt she might be able to manage somehow.


	7. Chapter 7

Melissa woke up in a sweat and had to kick the covers off. The room had become very warm and for a second she had forgotten where she was. She looked around and everything that had happened the day before came rushing back to her. 

What was she to do now? She needed to figure out what her next move was. She didn't really think Ganon would send her home even if he knew how. Nor did she think he would feel obligated to help her find a way even if she had just saved his life. At least she didn't feel indebted to him. Her conscience was clear. She would just have to find someone else who could help her but who that person was she wasn't quite sure yet. 

Melissa stood up still feeling a little drained as she walked to the water pitcher. It seemed someone had filled it while she had been asleep. She poured the water into the basin and washed her face. At least the water still felt fairly cool. 

There was a knock at the door before she heard the lock being opened. She tensed up thinking it might be Ganondorf coming to ask questions but let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was just Chara. She had come to take her to breakfast and Melissa had to admit she was quite hungry. 

As they walked Melissa tried to keep track of which way they went. If she was to escape eventually she would need to know where she was going. Soon they got to a bit of hall she recognized. Melissa looked down the way to Ganon's room and wondered if he was still recovering or if he would be in the dining hall. 

As they arrived at their destination she looked to the throne but it was empty. No sign of Ganon and strangely she didn’t know if that made her happy or sad. Chara was beckoning her to come and sit beside her and apparently whatever the Gerudo had thought of her yesterday seemed to have vanished in the night. Actually they seemed to be pretending she wasn't there which suited her fine. 

Without their king brooding over them the hall was full of life. There was laughter and shouting. A few of them were playing instruments in the corner while another group practiced dancing. Melissa sat beside Chara and just stared at her food. She didn’t know what the animal was but its head was still attached. Melissa pushed the bowl away grossed out by the eyeless holes staring at her. 

“You no hungry?”Chara asked giving her a funny look. 

“I am.” Melissa replied “But it is hard to want to eat something while it is staring you in the face.” 

Chara laughed. “You are funny person.” She said and proceeded to eat a chunk of hers. ”You better eat. You will need the strength today. Rumor is that you will be taught.” 

“Taught what?” Melissa asked not sure if she liked the sound of that. 

“Taught things.” Chara said not being very helpful. 

“Such as?”Melissa pressed. 

“Magic of course.” Chara said like it was common place. 

Melissa wasn't going to complain if they were going to provide her means of escape. 

“It is strange for you to be taught because usually there is only one apprentice per teacher.“ Chara continued between mouthfuls. 

“Who is the apprentice now?”Melissa asked curious. 

“Me of course.” Chara said grinning back at her. 

“I can see why they want to train you. Your ancient is flawless. Unlike mine.” She said frowning. 

“I think you speak pretty well.” Melissa said trying to cheer her up. 

Chara smiled at that. Melissa was still unsure she would be able to do a thing but she would give it a try. 

“Eat.” Chara said pushing her plate back in front of her. 

Melissa just picked at it. It wasn’t the worst thing she had ever tasted. Just the creepiest. When they had finished Chara proceeded to lead her to a room they used for magic practice. 

“So… any news on how the king is doing?”Melissa asked trying to be respectful. 

She wasn’t sure if it was right to call him by his name. Chara looked at her like she wanted to say something but then looked away in thought. 

“He is sick and resting.”Chara responded flatly looking to the side as she had said it. 

That usually was a sign of deception but Melissa guessed it wasn’t really her business what happened to him now. She had done her best to help and that was all she could do. They entered the room and Koume and Kotake were already there. The weird thing is they were talking to a young man who looked to be Gerudo but she knew that had to be impossible. 

He had the same tan skin, yellow eyes, beard, and red hair which was even pulled up the same way that Ganon’s was, but there was no way. A male was born only every 100 years. He looked to be in his late 20’s early 30’s. He almost had Ganon’s build. Their faces even looked similar now that she thought about it. His pants were black and had almost the same style of the women’s. His shirt covered over one shoulder leaving the other one bare where she could see a feint crescent scar. The shirts black fabric clung tightly to his chest showing of how muscular he was. A band of leather also went around his chest like if he wore a scabbard but there was no place for a sword. Instead it was more decorative. On it was a gold metal embedded with the biggest looking red ruby she had ever seen. At least she thought it was a ruby. It had been cut in the shape of a triangle. She guessed it stood for the Triforce for some reason or another. He also wore fingerless gloves. Though she didn’t understand why he would need them. Must have been a fashion choice she thought. All in all he wasn’t a bad looking man. 

“Who is he?” Melissa whispered to Chara. 

She didn’t seem to know how to respond once again. 

“Uh he is…”Chara stalled seeming to be either thinking of the word or of an answer for which to tell her. 

“A prince or something?” Melissa offered trying to help? 

“Not quite.” Chara said once again looking away. 

“So he is Gerudo?” Melissa asked. 

“Oh yes.” Chara said still not looking at her. 

“But aren’t men born like every 100 years?” Melissa asked again. 

“You ask too many questions.” Chara said now looking annoyed with her. 

“That’s because I'm such an idiot.” Melissa said sticking out her tongue. 

They both just started giggling. This brought the witch twins and the man’s attention to them. 

“Ah! You’re here.” Koume said flying up to them. 

“We didn’t here you come in.” said Kotake. 

Melissa started to feel very nervous. What if she couldn’t do any magic at all? She didn’t want to disappoint them but she felt she was going to. She thought back to all the times her and her sisters had pretended to do so when they were little and nothing had ever happened then. 

“So as I am sure you know by now,” Koume said looking at Chara. “There is usually only one apprentice at a time here. But…” She smiled at Melissa. “Due to your knowledge of our language we have decided to see if you can be taught gerudo magic.” 

Melissa felt the butterflies filling up her stomach. The man finally joined them. He had that same kind of walk that Ganon had like he owned the world. 

“Only I will be your teacher.” the man said with a deep familiar voice. 

Chara looked like she was jealous. Why would she be jealous of this? Who was he? 

“I am Armos.”He said like he had read her mind. 

He gave her a small bow. Well at least he was polite. 

“We will use this side room for your training.” He said ushering her away before she could ask any questions about how Ganon was doing. 

Well Koume and Kotake looked happy so he must not be doing too bad. He opened the door for her to step through. The room was fairly big. It looked like it had seen some major magic practice. Holes pocked the walls. The only thing that had seemed untouched was a carved statue of women with a snake winding around her. There seemed to be a second level held up by huge pillars, but the stairs looked to have been a practice target to. Armos walked to the middle of the room and waited for her to catch up. 

“So…” Melissa said letting out a deep breath trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. “I didn’t know there were any other men here. I thought your king was the only male.” 

He didn’t answer. 

“Um… Speaking of him… how is he? They said he was feeling sick but didn’t tell me if he was doing better.” Melissa was unsure why she wanted to know but her mind kept drifting back to thoughts of him. Maybe she thought if she knew this answer it might stop. 

“He is fine.” Armos said quickly studying her. “I was told of what you did last night. Where did you learn that from?” 

“To be honest I had only heard of it. I didn’t even know if his body wouldn’t reject my blood. Nor how much I could spare.” She admitted. 

He looked at her with that same amusement she would see on Ganon's face. “So you risked your life for him.”He stated bluntly. 

“I guess I did.” She replied looking away from him embarrassed she would do something so foolish. 

They stood there in silence for what seemed an eternity. 

“So what now?” She asked. 

“Now…we will see what you can do.” He replied. 

They tried for hours. He showed her how and she tried to copy. Nothing happened of course. She didn’t think it would. She couldn’t even make a fire ball which he had told her was one of the easiest things to do. 

Every time nothing happened he would yell at her. She was starting to hate this. She couldn’t help she hadn't an ounce of magic in her and after being berated three more times she had had enough. 

“Look if I can’t do magic I can’t do it.” She said angrily at him. “I know you said this language has something to do with it but I have spoken nothing but this since I was little and nothing even remotely magical has ever happened to me. Everyone at home speaks this language and magic is still a myth.” 

He looked thoughtful at this news. “Maybe I am going at this all wrong then.” He sat down and started to think of a new strategy. 

”After all this I don’t think I want to learn.” Melissa said tired of being berated before turning and leaving. She didn’t really think he would follow her. 

Chara was still practicing when she exited. She had what looked like a ball of fire in her hand and was throwing it in the air and catching it. When Kotake and Koume approached her Melissa didn’t even slow down. 

“How did it go?” they asked following her. 

“I bet you were a natural” Koume said. 

Melissa stopped. “I’m not anything.”Melissa replied turning around to reveal tears running from her eyes. 

She was just so frustrated and just wasn’t in the mood to see the disappointment that spread across their faces. Chara on the other hand looked pleased with this news. Then she spotted Armos by the door. 

“You could teach me?”Chara said with a smirk on her face. 

Melissa just needed some air. She didn’t stay to hear his reply and strangely no one tried to stop or follow her. After yesterday they must have figured out she wasn't much of a threat. 

She searched for what seemed hours before she found the way outside. She needed badly to just get out and feel the fresh air and as she walked out she looked around. The courtyard was full of activity. A lot of Gerudos were practicing sword technique and horseback archery. The heat was horrible but the breeze made it bearable. She spotted a pool of water on the other side. She decided to walk to it to try and calm down. This pool might be one of the last remaining bits of the way this land used to be. The water was so cool. She decided to walk in. Who cared if her clothes got wet. They could probably use a washing anyway. 

Nobody even paid her any attention. The middle looked deep but she couldn’t tell how much. She had waded till the water was up to her neck before she felt hands grab her from behind. She struggled as the invisible person pulled her backward. She elbowed whoever it was and they let her go. She dove under the water and resurfaced a little ways away from her would be attacker. When she had cleared the water from her eyes she saw that it had been Armos. 

“Are you trying to drown?” He asked upset that she had hit him. 

“I can swim.” she replied back and swam to the middle and floated there to prove her point. She guessed not many Gerudo could swim living in a land without much water. 

“I thought you were trying to…” he started but Melissa cut him off. 

“Do I look suicidal?” She said all calm the water had brought leaving her. 

She dove down into the water while holding her glasses so as not to lose them and resurfaced behind him. The water was too clear to have snuck up behind him. So she splashed him as fast as she could before diving and swimming off. When she resurfaced he looked like an angry drowned rat. Melissa laughed at how comical he looked. But he hadn’t found it as amusing as she had. 

He started gathering a ball of water in his hand. It got to the size of a watermelon before he hurtled it at her. She knew she could have dived to avoid it but had frozen in a panic. As the ball reached her a high wall of water sprung up. They stared at each other surprised. 

“You blocked it.” He said realizing what had happened. 

“What?!?! No I didn’t.” Melissa said confused as to why he would think that. 

“Well there is one way to find out.” He said with a mischievous smile crossing his face. 

This time he sent a volley of balls her way. Once again the wall of water blocked it. This time she felt a drain from her. When he stopped she felt so tired she could barely swim. She almost didn’t make it back to the shallows. She stood there shaking trying to catch her breath. He smiled pleased at his discovery. 

“What if that had been a fluke?” She asked out of breath. “You could have killed me.” She said angrily. 

Her legs felt like they were about to give out they were shaking so badly. 

“This drain of energy you feel is natural.” He said going back into teacher mode. 

“I told you I don’t want to learn. Just leave me alone.” She said starting to walk back to land. 

All the Gerudos had stopped what they were doing to watch them. Out of the water she felt heavier. She just couldn’t stand anymore. Armos caught her as she fell. 

“That is the end off your lesson for today.” he said swooping her up in his arms. 

“This isn’t right.” She said looking up at his face as he carried her back in. 

She could hear whispers as they passed. 

“How so?” He said a look of amusement crossing his face again. 

”How could I be doing magic and not be aware of doing so.” She could barely keep her eyes open now but she wanted to hear his answer. 

“I don’t know.”He replied” but I will tell you this, not many could pull off the spell you just did on their first day. Actually even your friend Chara for all the magic she has mastered couldn’t pull that off.” 

Melissa let a smile cross her face and then passed out in his arms.


End file.
